Diagnosing Hip Dysplasia Difficult in Young Canines

Q:
 Tabitha, our 11-month-old German Shepherd, recently hurt her
back. Our veterinarian took a lot of X-rays and said there weren’t
any broken bones. She’s doing fine now. But our vet also told us
that she has
”
marginal hips.
”
He said he wasn’t sure if she has hip dysplasia or not. Other
than this injury, she hasn’t ever shown any problems. So what
should we do? We don’t want to worry about dysplasia.
Q: Tabitha, our 11-month-old German Shepherd, recently hurt her back. Our veterinarian took a lot of X-rays and said there weren’t any broken bones. She’s doing fine now. But our vet also told us that she has “marginal hips.” He said he wasn’t sure if she has hip dysplasia or not. Other than this injury, she hasn’t ever shown any problems. So what should we do? We don’t want to worry about dysplasia.

A: We’re glad to hear that Tabitha is doing all right after her injury. And it sounds as though your vet was thorough in his evaluation of her.

Dysplasia is a term that refers to abnormal development. In Tabitha’s case, hip dysplasia means that she has abnormally developing hips. And, of course, this could lead to problems later, including arthritis and muscle pain.

The signs of hip dysplasia include a shallow “socket,” where the head of the femur doesn’t have a deep seat in the pelvis. If this ball-and-socket joint isn’t deep enough, there is a small amount of laxity and instability that causes inflammation and abnormal mineralization of the ligaments and tendons in the area. In advanced stages, dysplasia is easy to diagnose. But subtle signs can be misleading, especially in young canines.

Diagnosing hip dysplasia isn’t always easy in young growing dogs. This is especially true in the German Shepherd breed. Some young pups like Tabitha can have hips that appear shallow when they are very young, but end up normal when they reach full maturity. Not all of them are that lucky. That’s why a final evaluation, called the OFA, is performed with an X-ray when the dog is at least 2 years of age. Only then can we be sure the hips are normally formed for life.

Because your vet can’t make a final evaluation of Tabitha, I’d recommend that he send these radiographs to a veterinary radiologist. We have several exceptionally good veterinarians in the local area that specialize in radiology. Tabitha’s X-rays can be sent to one of them and evaluated and you may get a more definitive diagnosis. The cost is nominal and may give you some real peace of mind.

Q: Fritz, our 9-year-old German shorthair pointer, is in trouble. We left him in the house and went to visit friends in San Jose. They asked us to stay the night and we accepted. We called my brother to have him feed Fritz and let him outside to relieve himself. But my brother forgot and Fritz spent over 24 hours in the house. He’s so well house trained that he “held it” for the entire time. Now he’s sick and the vet says he has kidney failure, probably because he held his urine for so long. I never knew this could happen. Is there a chance he can recover?

A: Ordinarily, “holding it” for so long wouldn’t be a problem. But if his overnight lockup caused kidney damage, he may have had some ongoing problems with his kidneys even before he spent the night alone inside.

The kidneys are very resilient, and they are also very efficient. Dogs and cats, like people, have two kidneys. But truth is, we only need half of one kidney to perform necessary functions to sustain life. (That’s why people who donate a kidney can remain perfectly healthy afterwards.) Dogs are the same. They can live healthy and happy when only a little more than 25 percent of their kidneys are functioning.

Resilience may also help Fritz recover from this illness. Renal (kidney) disease can be caused by several different metabolic problems. Some of these are very treatable and some are much more grave. Some can be stabilized and the patient can live for a few years afterwards.

If you want to find out the most accurate prognosis, consider having an ultrasound exam and kidney biopsy done by a specialist. It’s a simple procedure where the biopsy needle is inserted through the skin into the kidney with just some local anesthesia. Fritz wouldn’t have to be fully anesthetized for the procedure. These tests might tell his vet the cause of his kidney disease and an ultrasound exam would probably reveal how much kidney damage he suffers. Hopefully, with aggressive treatment, he can return to good health.